When Blanche had her fill of hugging (about half an hour after I gave her the ring), we returned to our previous agenda. The tunnel leads from the city towards the north-east and leads to one of the abandoned mines. With the [Earth magic sonar] to look into the tunnel I walked inside and went to the mines. From what I could tell, I was on the third underground floor of the mineshaft I set up my base in.
"This is good then. We can take kids to help us out whenever we need to," Blanche said, her cheeks still flushed, as I informed her of our location.
"Yeah. If I open up the tunnel a little more, I should be able to move the alcohol in barrels through here… that would probably be seen as smuggling, though…"
"Yeah. That's right. Anyway, you asked those people from Inn to get you some samples of grains and Popats, what reason did you have for that?"
"I want to set up a farm for them on the first floor, I still only have the fruits and berries there, but if I get the Popat farm running, I should have more food for the Kobolds and Goblin trio."
"Ah, I see. That makes sense."
"Plus it can make for good alcohol ingredients."
"Of course it does…" Blanche sighed in exasperation, "Is that the reason why you asked for Malt, Barny and Weet?"
"Yes exactly," I added flatly as we walked up with light magic illuminating our route.
When we got to the first floor, we right away got to see Shizu and Urza working the fields.
"Master! Welcome back!" Urza waved us over.
"Hey there, you two. How is the farm doing?"
"Looky here," Shizu showed me her basket that was filled with apples.
"Wow! You already harvested this much? I guess we will be able to start producing alcohol really soon… I guess I should forbid the Fermenting slimes to segregate the liquor and have them multiply faster…"
"Where is Chika anyway?" Blanche looked around, not seeing the last of the three goblin girls
"Mining," Shizu replied curtly.
"What else should she be doing, right?" Blanche shrugged and looked at the wall next to us, "Are you going to build it here?"
"That's the plan. I want to have a part connected to the main hallway and another part to the orchard. And on the opposite side will be the brewery and alcohol storage."
"But won't it collapse?" Urza asked with worry in her face.
"That possibility always exists, but we are not exactly aligned with the upper floor and I plan to leave support pillars every now and then. Plus the floor below us is diagonal compared to these two so we will be even safer."
"Are you planning something for the floor below?" Shizu asked timidly.
"I will set up another Popat farm and make rooms for the kobolds. I want them to take care of the monsters used for food I'm going to pick up along the way."
With that said, I used
"Well, time to go."
"Huh?"
"You've worked for over five hours."
"Wait, already?!" I looked at the room, I have drilled at least 15 square meters, two and a half meters tall. The floor was softened with a combination of
"Yeah. It's time to eat," Blanche said with a straight face and plopped a bowl of soup right before me. I took a sniff, the smell of mushrooms and deer meat entered my nose alongside many clashing herbs.
Wait, this is the same soup I made for Blanche years ago as our first meal together?
I looked at her and she turned bright red. "Thank you for the food."
"Master, we will plant some Popats for you," Urza smiled as she easily lifted a sack twice her size and walked over to the new farmland.
***
Once I ate my soup we returned to the city via a tunnel where I was also embedding the Light source lamp. In the orphanage, I masked the presence of the doors with magic and went above where Romi had used the dining room as a study room and had the kids read and play games for memorization of words.
They might be able to read, write and do math in three months or so. Well, that's except for Vasse who was born into a merchant family and already has the basics mastered. He can already help out Romi with teaching.
"We are going to the Summoner's guild today, right? Do you know what the Monster Aptitude test is about?" Blanche asked me as she walked beside me.
"I'm not really sure, I only know that we will be making contracts with a bunch of monsters, so the duke bought up a big amount of Magic restoration potions."
"I see. I wonder how Summoners will find out their aptitude."
"Yeah, I would like to see that too."
"What about the food monster license?"
"I'm shooting for the Cave Pigs, they feel easier to care for compared to Flex Rabbits or other options. I would also like some bird monster like Cachicks for eggs."
"It might be good to get a Shaeppe for wool too."
"Yeah. We got the Forest Spider Matriarch for spider silk, but getting something warm to wear would be good too. The Wooly wolf's wool is good, but a little too heavy, after all."
As we were chatting, we were walking to the doors of the orphanage, when the doors burst open. On the other side was Lena and her entire family.
"O-ooh, are we perhaps late?"
"You have no idea," Lena smiled coldly as a clear wave of anger washed over her and a few veins popped on her forehead.
Sensing my defeat, I didn't even try to get away and gave myself to the hands of destiny. For the entire carriage ride I had to listen to Lena's scolding. It was tiring, but you reap what you sow… Better remember to always be on time with Lena…
***
We exited the city and rode for a little bit over an hour to the north of the city. There, on a bank of the river was a ranch where the summoners guild cared for its monsters. The room I was in before was apparently a place where the monsters requested were stored before being taken by their new owners as well as eggs and hatchlings of easy to care for monsters, just like the Demon Bee Queen egg and Forest Spider Matriarch.
The road we were riding on, divided the monster living quarters in two. One was for herbivore monsters and second for carnivore and omnivore monsters. Interestingly enough, I could not see any humanoid monsters.
"Are there no humanoid monsters here?"
"There were some goblins some time ago, but they overpopulated the place and there was a need to cut them down in order to not endanger the populace and other monsters living here."
"There should be Thrian-tis though," Laina added to her husband's words.
Thrian-ti are ant-like humanoid monsters that form matriarchal society with the queen usually being a magic user. Most of the Thrian-tis are warriors though.
"Ugly ants…" Blanche's face distorted in disgust.
"Have you met them before?" Lena asked right away.
"We exterminated their nest in Kassana forest about three months ago. I believe I still have their spears and other items they were using."
"How many were there?"
"Not much, around five hundred or so," Blanche said with a painful look in her face as she remembered our 'hunt'.
"What?!" Henry was positively surprised and scared at the same time.
"Is something the matter?"
"That is a lot of Thrian-tis. Usually, the Thrian-tis make groups of one hundred at most. Sixty to seventy heads is the usual number of hordes that is considered big. The numbers you are talking about… when they form such groups they start to be called Legion Thrians instead. It's said that in the past there was a tamer who had over two thousand Thrian-tis and she was called a one woman army."
"I never heard of that. So there was such an amazing tamer."
"Indeed. She was the founder of our bloodline, so we are really proud of her, but sadly since those times, no other tamer was able to tame as many monsters as she did."
"Oh wow! That is amazing."
"We believe She had a blessing from the Evolution goddess, Lady Tunetia. Sadly, we can't find out anymore," Henry sagged his shoulders.
"Given your accomplishments, I believe you have a blessing or two under your belt too," Henretta added.
"Does having a blessing make that great impact?"
"You don't know? Some nobles even disinherit their children if they didn't get any blessing at baptism. Pretty barbaric if you asked me, though," Laina said and the entire ducal family nodded along.
"You took the words out of my mouth, it really is barbaric practice," I nodded as well.
"Honestly, having a blessing is preferable, but it isn't required. All Army generals have blessings from God of War and Strategy Corpan, but the First general actually has a blessing from God of Agriculture Lambert instead."
"God of Agriculture? Really?!" Henretta was surprised. The thought of an army general on a farm, somehow sounded old to me though. Was there a book with a similar premise, perhaps?
"I thought I told you…" Henry sighed and continued, "Anyways, remember to not openly speak of your blessings to anyone. There might be some people in the church who can tell how many blessings you have, but the chance you would meet them is rather low."
"Most of them are concentrated at Holy willow shrine anyway," Laina shrugged.
"Holy willow shrine? This is the first time I hear about this place, is it that important to the church?" I asked unsurely.
"Oh, I forgot to mention it when we were talking before so I guess I should tell you about the Church and the Southern Alliance too, since it is quite important to understand… Oh, it seems this will have to wait however. We have arrived."
As Henry said, we made it in front of the entry of the main building and a man in a tight coat came to greet us. He was slender to boot, so it made him look way taller than anyone else. His face was practically made only of lines. Even his nose looked a little like the carrot nose of a snowman.
"What a joyous day this is for me to be able to serve the Ducal family and their associates." His voice was so high-pitched that I actually thought he got his lungs filled with helium.
"Oh, it's Justus, we will be in good care then." Henry smiled and introduced us, "This is Justus Rebelka, while he might look unique he is the top monster researcher in our kingdom."
"It's an honor to meet you, I'm Lena Nomille, second daughter of Duke Nomille."
"I'm Arito Aruze, I came together with the ducal family to conduct my monster aptitude test," I bowed slightly next to Lena.
"I'm Blanche Aruze, honor to meet you," Blanche bowed next to me, just a little less than me.
"An Albino Elf?" the man muttered darkly under his breath and I could feel my hands balling into fists.
I almost forget that people with albinism tend to be discriminated against here. If he tries something, I might have to put him in place…
"Mr. and Mrs. Aruze, welcome to the Summoner's guild farm, let us start the aptitude test right away."
He led us to the main building and Lena and I filled out papers with types of monsters and how many we had. Though, I had to ask for empty form to write all the actual monsters I had.
20 Regular slimes, 54 Corpse Slimes, 63 Bloody Slimes, 1 Golden Slime, 350 Poison slimes, 60 Medicine Slimes, 489 Moss Slimes, 246 Spore slimes, 182 Collagen Slimes, 141 Stone slimes, 10 Sand slimes, 277 Acid Slimes, 123 Resin Slimes, 4 Amber Slimes, 168 Cocoon Slimes, 59 Fermenting Slimes, 62 Cleaning Slimes, 340 Grime Slimes, 8 Ink Slimes, 1 Space Slime, 4 Healing Slimes, 46 Dark Slimes, 8 Foliage slimes, 213 Fluff Slimes and 4 Carbon Slimes. I already had nearly 3 thousand slimes. Then came the dogs. I had 79 Black wolves, 24 Shadow Wolves, one from each Infernal, Blizzard and Wooly type and lastly, one Newt Hound. Then I had one Phantom and one Freezing owl, three Shadow owls, one Fallen and one Vampire with 8 Lesser vampires and 51 Vampire Servants under her. I then had one Blue Moon Viper, one Bearded Naga, 6 Ogres, one Red Fox, one Forest spider Matriarch, one Hobgoblin, two Gobinas and two Fire Beetles. For other humanoid monsters I had 30 Kobolds, 3 Kobold Warriors, one Kobold Knight, two Elite Kobolds and one Kobold Priest, serving as their leader.
I of course can't forget the Demon Bee Queen egg and the River Sahuagin's eggs that are yet to hatch.
"You have quite the collection, Mr. Arito, just the number of slimes is staggering. From what I can tell you right now is that you are compatible with canine type monsters, bug type monsters, humanoid monsters and monsters with scales. Not to mention those slimes…"
"Is slime specialization unusual?"
"It's not unusual, slimes can be tamed by anyone and are considered the easiest monsters to start with for newbie tamers. The numbers are unusual though," he said while not looking up from the paper I handed over to him before adding: "Or more like, completely unheard of…"
"It seems the young lady managed to tame some high ranking slimes and Bearded naga… Alright. We will start by forming contracts with bird type monsters, then move on reptile and amphibian type monsters. I would like to follow that by mammal monsters and if your magic power holds out we would try out water dwelling monsters and humanoid monsters. Sadly, we cannot offer test for the undead monsters as we do not have any in here."
"To be honest, I'm not really a fan of undead monsters so I'm a little glad," Lena said with a strained smile.
"I'm right there with you, too. I can manage Romi, as she looks almost human, but the skeletons and the smelly zombies are too much for me."
I smiled at Lena and Blanche as I could not really blame them. There are only a handful of exceptions like Romi who, while undead, look like the living. I wonder if I ever find some demon lord level monster, like that Spider Skull Bear back in the Kassana Forest.
"I heard having affinity with undead monsters is really rare, though," Laina said as she looked at the list of monsters we could form contracts with.
"Indeed it is. When it comes to using undead monsters, necromancy is much more preferable. I heard of a country in the Hailen continent that uses low level undead for farming. They clash with the Holy church a lot because of that, though," Justus said while shrugging his shoulders with a content smirk.
The information I got from the Administrators of this world said that undead are manifestations of lingering feelings for the most part, but some are born from the Demigod of Undead Stagnis, a servant of the Goddess of Death and slumber Ghoulana. The Demigod was supposedly originally a human who served Goddess Ghoulana millennia ago and reached Divinity by his sheer will and resilience. The Country Justus was speaking about worshiping Stagnis and the king there was apparently a high ranked undead that was born from a bone of Stagnis.
Now that was done, we went to make contracts with the bird type monsters. For that we entered an aviary in the back of the main building.
"Since you've already tamed Shadow owls, Phantom Owl and Freezing Owl, which are considered difficult, Mr. Arito, I already scratched them from your list. But please continue with other types of birds we have here," Justus said and showed us the first monsters we would be forming contracts with.
First was a tiny pidgeon-like monster called Heart Bird, next was a bird of prey look alike called Hawkee and lastly was a penguin-like monster with two pairs of wings called Cearen.
"WHA—?!"
Just as the cages were opened, the bird trio raced past us and started clinging to Blanche. The Heart bird was rubbing its cheek against hers, the Hawkee was doing the same from the other side and the Cearen was demanding attention by headbutting her leg.
"What is happening?!" Laina was surprised and the workers of the farm moved quickly to remove the monsters from the stunned Blanche.
"Hmm… you said she's a summoner, correct? Is she contracted with a high ranked bird monster, perhaps?" Justus asked me as he rubbed his chin.
"No, she summoned Wind Wyrm."
"I see. It appears that she has an affinity for wind magic using monsters, then. What a speciality… to think that her summoning affinity would affect even not summoned monsters…"
"Is that really a speciality?"
"It is. Usually you see tamers and summoners being locked by body type instead of magic affinity. A good thing to know nevertheless. Most of the wind magic using monsters are in adventurers guild ranked F and up. You better keep that in mind."
"I will, thank you," I bobbed my head to Justus, my warriness subduing a little.
From there me and Lena formed our contracts and had to answer some questions like: How does the contract feel? Will the monster listen to orders you give? Can you make another contract right away?
"Hmmmm… Cearen is not responding well to me…" Lena furrowed her tiny brows.
"It's okay, young Lady. Given you have problems with Cearen specifically, I guess you won't have problems with bird monsters that have more affinities than two. Cearens are known for having three after all." Justus said and had Lena cancel the contract before having her form a contract with other types of bird monster that had more affinities, all of which ended in failure.
About two hours to our starting making contracts, Justus determined us as compatible with bird monsters and while he determined me to have affinity with all bird types, he classified Lena as capable of contracting any bird monster with two or less magic affinities.
Next we went onto reptiles and there was a massive difference once again. While I formed a contract without issues with all monsters, Lena could form a contract with only two legged reptiles, which looked like Raptors back on Earth.
"Does this mean I will not be able to form contracts with Blue-tailed lizards?" Lena asked with teary eyes.
"I don't believe you should have problems with those as long as you manage to make them like you. As you know, the Blue-tailed lizards are one of the smartest reptilian monsters on this continent. You might experience a slight uneasiness if you tame an enormous number of them, but I believe you should be okay as long as you do not keep more than fifty of them."
"Isn't that quite a lot?"
"It might be for regular tamer, but given lady Lenas lineage, it should be no problem for her to tame hundreds, if not thousands of monsters of this strength category," Justus explained to me.
From here we moved onto amphibians, and here we struggled both. While I could tame most of the lower ranked monsters, I had problems forming a pact with Elder Mud Newt.
"Hmm… I see. I guess we hit a mark here… Let's test out a theory with other 'Lord' monsters," Justus scribbled something on a piece of paper, gave it to his attendant and sent him away.
"So this Elder Mud Newt is a 'Lord'? I never heard of one appearing here."
"He hatched from an egg here and grew up to be stronger than other Mud Newts we have. He became lord of the pack just last year, but as you can see, he's quite moody and tends to be grumpy as well."
"Never did I think you would have a problem with a newt of all things."
"Yeah, it surprised me too. But…"
"Is something the matter?" Justus asked me, "If you feel something strange, please tell me."
"Well… how do I put it… it felt as if I was breaking his bond, I guess? That kind of thing. It was like asking a girl out and her telling you her heart is set on someone else kinda thing…"
"Hmm… I see…"
"Justus?" Henry asked as he looked at Justus scratching his head.
"You see, I raised this one, so I thought that Mr. Arito might have a problem forming a contract with monsters that were previously tamed by some else, but in his record it is written that he tamed the Forest Spider Matriarch without any problem…"
"Might the intelligence of the monster affect it too? After all, the Matriarch is a little… you know?" Blanche spun her finger next to her head, trying to politely say that the Forest spider Matriarch is as dumb as a rock.
"Certainly, the Mud Newts are known for their above average intelligence, do you think that might be it? Anyway, let's see you form contracts with other 'Lord' monsters before we make any decisions," Justus closed the debate and moved us to the next stop, that being the Mammal monster enclosures.
We started forming contracts, answering questions and canceling contracts left and right until the main event came. A lord class monster was slowly walking towards us. It was a giant lion with wings. His slow, regal-like, walk and somber looking face made him slightly intimidating.
I formed a contract with him when he stood before me, all the while preparing for the worst. The lion however, just looked at me.
"The contract is a success."
"Really?! How does it feel? Is it okay?"
"It's not a bad feeling. I can tell we are connected somehow, but I'm not sure he would listen."
"I will listen as long as you don't give me dumb orders." The lion spoke to me telepathically.
"You can talk?!"
"Of course I can. I am the great king of skies! Aurelis the Winged monarch! Lord of all Winged Lions!"
"I never saw anyone forming a contract with Aurelis before, he's a lord class Winged Lion, after all," Justus was surprised.
"Can that idiot shut up? I have something to discuss with you, strong one."
"Aurelis asks if you could be silent Mr. Justus. He apparently has something to speak with me about."
"Why did you call me a strong one? I'm sure you could defeat me pretty easily, if you asked me."
"You are strong enough to be considered the natural enemy of Skull Bears. That is strong enough, even if you can't put a single scratch on me. Plus you have a lot of blessings too. Someone like that can not be underestimated."
"You certainly have a lot of praise for me. Is there something I can do for you? Justus just said you have never formed a contract with anyone else, are my titles and blessings the reason?"
"Yes. I wish to ask one so beloved by the gods to watch over my cub."
"Your cub?"
"Indeed. As it stands, I won't be in this world for long. I shall be returning to the wind and skies within a few months, so I wanted to have you look after it for me. Of course I won't ask you to do it for free. Once I'm gone, please use whatever remains of my body for your use. You can use my crystalized mana for Schtaffe and my skin for armor. Though, please let my skull rest at the highest mountain possible."
"I see. I know the way to the Kassena forest and the mountains enclosing it from south, west and partially north, but… are you certain you want your body to be taken apart?"
"Haha, do not worry. When we, the Winged Lions, die, our souls return to the wind and we become guardians of the heavens and the Divine realm. There is no need to mourn us as we will live on forever. Our bodies are the only thing that holds us back from reaching the heavens, but taking our life is strictly forbidden."
"Okay I understand and accept your offer," I bowed politely and Aurelis smiled and flew off.
"Huh? Was the contract ineffective?" Justus asked with the rest of the Ducal family standing behind him and their guards protecting Lena and Blanche.
"It was effective and we talked for a while, striking a deal while at it."
"He offered you a deal? What kind of deal?" Blanche asked, question marks and worry flying around her head.
"He asked me if I could watch over his cub after he is no longer around… he also promised to give me his body when he no longer needs it in return…"
"I see, Winged Lions are known to be messengers of Gods after their passing, and there are many tales depicting clergy men reuniting with their contracted Winged lions while receiving Divine Will," Kalvig nodded with a small smile.
"Also, he said to use his crystalized mana for Schtaffe, do you know what that is?"
"SCHTAFFE?!" Justus screamed out in surprise.
"Please be quiet Justus," Laina reprimanded the sharp eyed man with a smile before continuing, "Schtaffe is a type of wand nobles like us use. Being offered a crystalized mana of a Winged Lion like Aurelis is an enormous deal, as it can be seen as the will of a Divine Messenger. There are some kingdoms in Southern Alliance where this act alone could make you a mid-ranked noble. That doesn't apply in our Risha kingdom however, as we had some troubles because of it in the past."
"Generally speaking, acquiring a Schtaffe is something that nobles usually do during their stay in the Royal academy; some wealthier merchants manage it too, sometimes. You need to acquire fragments of Divine Tree, crystallized mana of high ranking monsters of elements corresponding to yours, Mirrordust flowers, your own blood and metal with high magic conduciveness," Henretta explained before telling me that her sword is actually a Schtaffe too.
"Hrmm… but what merit using a Schtaffe brings? I can easily use magic even without it."
"Schtaffe is basically a wand that boosts the strength of your magic. But it doesn't mean just the god given elemental magic, but Heretic magics as well. Schtaffe is the ultimate wand that can also change shape in accordance to your will. When transformed into a pen, any contract signed with it becomes impossible to break. It can also store magical power for you to use later on. There are many spells that need an enormous amount of energy to be cast, especially compound spells and Kin magic. The magical energy stored in your body can be transferred by Schtaffes to fill magic crystals and give them elements, or strengthen them. Not to mention that Schtaffe is a part of your body and as such, you can hide it within you," Kalvig answered me as he produced his own Schtaffe that radiated pale blue light and changed it into a dagger and a bow right after. After the show, he turned it into a ball, which he let his hand absorb
I guess it will be quite some time before I acquire it then. This crystalized mana thing, can according to the books from this world's Administrators be harvested only when you pour enormous amounts of magical energy into the heart of the monster. From my experience I should be able to do so easily, but I will need magic born monsters first, and of a high rank to boot.
"You are thinking of the crystalized mana, right?" Blanche asked me when we finished testing our aptitude with the remaining monsters, while Justus was still in daze.
"It shouldn't be hard to do, I already experimented with Slime cores and Ogre hearts previously."
"You already have experience with it?" Lena seemed surprised a little.
"Well, winters are long in Kassana forest, so I had a lot of time on my hands. For example, I found out that you don't really need the heart most of the time. All you need is the blood, as it carries the energy through your body," I spoke openly as we were in the room waiting for our results and Kalvig put up a sound blocking barrier.
"Is it possible to make it just from the blood? I never heard of such a thing," Henry was surprised.
"Well, according to my experiments, you need to dry the blood while still inside the body, as when you drain it, you will release the mana. That is also why the Magic crystals of strong monsters are bigger when they die a natural death. When they're killed their mana leaks with their blood so only a little remains to crystalize."
Though, magic born monsters have a tendency to crystalize either way as their bodies are mostly made from magic energy itself. I just had to come up with a way to stop mana dispersion, which is no easy feat, I can assure you.
"Hmm… that must be hard in its own way, and you definitely would ruin the dead body's usable materials."
"Yes. That's correct. When you turn a monster into a Magic crystal with my method, there is only about ten percent of material remaining for further use, if any."
For a while we continued our discussion and I learned about monsters who's crystalized mana I would need for my Schtaffe. Apart from Winged lion, whos element is Wind, I would need Bulette for Earth magic, Dragon Turtle for Water magic, Azer for Fire magic, Doppelangler for Null magic, Peryton for Lightning magic, Dark Skull Bear for Dark magic, Couatl —a kind of winged snake, which funnily enough count as a dragon species— for Light magic, Frostbeak for Ice magic, Astraorca —a type of water dwelling creature living in the All-light realm with angels that commonly appears in cold seas of the south— for Healing magic, Gorgon for Poison magic, Elder Treant for Wood magic, Riftling for Space magic, Moraku for Barrier magic and lastly, Vishquar for Taming magic. The last three will be extremely hard to get as they only live in separate dimensions from the Mortal realm we reside in… haaah, this will be such a pain…
"All of those are the strongest possible monsters, but you will be fine even with their subordinate monsters. Not to mention, with the technique you told us about before, it might be possible to get even better crystals than with the previously mentioned beasts."
"We could look for their crystals at the summer auction if you want," Henry offered after his wife was done speaking.
"That's really kind of you, but I would feel bad about having you procure it for me. I would much rather collect them on my own."
"I get what you mean. It wouldn't feel like you earned it," Lena nodded approvingly to my words before showing interest in getting materials for her Schtaffe by herself too, which was turned down by her entire family. Blanche pulled on the hem of my shirt with a cute pout.
"If you want, we can look for materials for your own Schtaffe," I whispered into her ear, which made her smile bashfully.
At that moment, there was a knock and Justus entered the room with filled out forms.
"Lord Nomille and family, I brought the results. From the aptitude test we deduced that lady Lena's aptitude is mainly for monsters with two legs. As for their strength… is yet to be determined, but I believe anything up to B rank should be okay with her."
"That's amazing Lena," her parents started praising her and patting her.
"Heheh, thank you. What about Arito?"
"Hmm… that is one hard question. From what I saw, he has an aptitude for all monsters of any strength category. Even a Lord like Aurelius was willing to make a contract with him… It's possible that you have the blessing of the Evolution goddess, who oversees monsters and growth of this world," Justus broke into quite a religious speech so I let him to his devices and handed over Blanche crystals I made the previous day from lumps of smaller ones with alchemy.
"Umm, excuse me, could I ask for summoning advice?"
Justus, who got interrupted by Blanche, shot her a cold glare, but under our watchful eyes, he could not answer with rude remarks.
"You can do that in the city, miss Aruze. I'm afraid we here specialize in taming magic," his voice was incredibly cold as if looking at trash on the sidewalk.
"I see, thank you," Blanche said with an uneasy look in her eyes, clasping her hand in mine.
"In that case, we are done here," Kalvig and Lena picked up on this and spoke in unison, which made us giggle.
With no other words we left the building, boarded the carriage and left the farm. Later, I received a letter of apology, but I had it eaten by my Grime slimes. I'm not the one you should apologize to, imbecile.
Anyway, in the summoner's guild, we were led to a room in the basement where there was a giant ball of water, with smaller balls rotating around. All Blanche had to do was pour her mana to the ball and pictures of monsters she could form a contract with would be shown. Much easier than the Tamers's test, but what can you do? The result was that she can summon any bird monster, or a monster that has an affinity for wind magic.
"Arito, could you make the crystals bigger? I would like to try summoning something stronger than Berga," Blanche handed me her shards with such a cute expression, that I could not say no.
"Okay, leave it to me," I whipped out a wooden board with an engraved Alchemy circle for combination and merged the crystals on a spot. One safe summoning later, we returned to the inn and after dinner went to sleep. Blanche laid next to me, looking at me.
"Is something the matter?"
"No…"
"There definitely is. Talk to me."
"…Okay… it's just that… I hope we won't meet that man again…"
"Yeah, I get you, I don't want to meet him either. Good thing they have that warehouse where they bring the monsters from the farm."
"Y-yeah… I summoned a Vulcanbeak today… I hope it will be useful in any way…"
"I'm sure it will! At the very least we got an incubator for free!" I grinned at her and ruffled her head.
"Thanks… but what is an incubator exactly?" Blanche looked confusedly at me.
"Hahah, well I guess something that keeps eggs warm instead of mamabird?" I smiled at her unsurely.
"But Vulcanbeaks can be as hot as magma… at least that's what the summoning director said…"
Oh, a portable grill stove then?
We continued talking way past our lights off and dozed off in each other's hands.